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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement now faces a class action lawsuit for the release of detainees at the Calhoun County Jail amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed an amended complaint on Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan detailing 16 people previously or currently detained and said to be particularly vulnerable to the illness.

Judge Judith Levy has ordered a response be filed by April 28.

The Calhoun County Jail has about 130 ICE detainees, houses the largest number of such detainees of any facility in Michigan and does not provide for social distancing — the key method of preventing spread, according to the lawsuit. Detainees are crowded and lacking in resources including masks, soap and hand sanitizer.

The ACLU has asked the court to find the current situation and risk unconstitutional.

The court is asked to order the immediate release of six of the plaintiffs and to identify others in need of release too, according to the ACLU.

In addition, the lawsuit calls for the court to determine the population that can be safely detained amid the outbreak. It calls for releases if that number is not met.

Lives will be lost if ICE doesn’t release the detainees, so they can safely social distance, said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s National Prison Project, in a press release.

"Civil immigration detention should not be a death sentence,” Cho said. “For our clients, it likely will be when — not if — a COVID-19 outbreak occurs in this facility.”

ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls declined to comment but noted in an email there are no positive cases of coronavirus among ICE detainees in the Calhoun County Jail.

There are five coronavirus cases out of 40 ICE detainees reported at the St. Clair County Jail, according to the ACLU.

In a statement, ICE officials from Detroit said the agency is reviewing cases of people in detention at higher risk of severe illness from the virus and specifically reviewing cases of those pregnant and those 60 and older.

“Utilizing CDC guidance along with the advice of medical professionals, ICE may place individuals in a number of alternatives to detention options,” officials said, according to the statement. “Decisions to release individuals in ICE custody occur every day on a case-by-case basis.”

Criminal records, immigration history, community ties, risk of flight and public safety risks are all considered, ICE officials said.

The Calhoun County Sheriff's Office could not be reached Monday, but outgoing Sheriff Matthew Saxton previously said in a Facebook Live session that the jail can separate people in need of quarantine.

Immigrant advocates across the country have asked for the release of detainees out of concern for the spread of the virus. Many ICE detainees have no criminal records.

Several lawsuits were already filed in Detroit to obtain such releases.

The amended complaint is connected to a case filed in March on behalf of Janet Malam, 56, of Monroe, who immigrated legally to the U.S. from the United Kingdom at the age of 4. She and two others in the suit have already been released.

The newly named plaintiffs include a victim of human trafficking, a refugee, some individuals who entered the country illegally, some set to be deported and some trying to stay legally, according to the lawsuit.

The ACLU argued deportation is unlikely to take place with travel concerns and the government focus on the novel coronavirus.

The ACLU is asking for the immediate release of:

Qaid Alhalmi, a 58-year-old Yemen citizen living in Dearborn who suffers from hypertension and type 2 diabetes, according to the filing. He has been ordered removed to Yemen and has been in custody at the jail since September 2019.

Tomas Cardona Ramirez, a 38-year-old Guatemalan citizen who suffers from hypertension and type 2 diabetes, according to the filing. He has been in custody since February. He entered the country in 2004 and was granted voluntary departure this month.

Julio Fernando Medina Euceda, a 54-year-old man from Honduras living in Detroit who has been detained in Calhoun since January. He became a lawful permanent resident after marrying his wife in 2006 but was ordered removed this month, according to the filing.

Damary Rodriguez Salabarria, a 46-year-old from Cuba who has been hospitalized outside the U.S. for twice for acute pancreatitis, undergone an appendectomy and gallbladder removal, and suffered multiple kidney infections, according to the filing. She has hypertension, chronic gastritis, a peptic ulcer and gastroesophageal reflux. She entered the country in August 2019, applied for asylum and has been in custody in Calhoun since a transfer from Texas the same month. Her asylum and an appeal were denied, and she is petitioning for another review.

Emanuel Rosales Borboa, a 35-year-old Mexican citizen with asthma who takes an immunosuppressant for his breathing problems, according to the filing. He has been in custody in Calhoun since March. He entered the country on a B-2 visa at 10 years old, and this year was charged for carrying a concealed weapon.

Min Dan Zhang, a 50-year-old Chinese woman detained since August 2019 in Calhoun and awaiting an appeal on a removal order, citing Convention Against Torture, according to the filing.

Editor's note: This story was updated April 28 to reflect that the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office could not be reached for comment Monday and Matt Saxton was the outgoing sheriff at the time of his comments.